Edward Taylor, in his poem “Upon a Spider Catching A Fly”, uses his vast knowledge of the English language to portray the Puritan belief of the omnipotent and indomitable Christian God through the a conceit of this poem. In the second stanza Taylor characterizes a wasp as being “pettish” describing how the wasps’ movement is conveying its fractious emotions. He then goes on to say, in the third stanza, that the wasp is “afraid, remote” adding to Taylor’s description first description of the fretful wasp. Through his diction it is implied that the wasp is a metaphor for a human being, apprehensive about death as he has sinned during his time on earth. With knowledge of the Puritan society in which Taylor lives in, he insinuates that God is merciless
Then he said that you are held, "as one holds a spider ... You hang by a slender thread". Being essentially the same images, the spider and the sinner are analogous, and the thread and the hand function similarly. Edwards called attention to the precarious situation of the spider and the man on the hand. This similarity further emphasizes the topic that Edwards chose.
Disturbingly describing God’s abhorrence towards man and comparing it to a spider being held over a fire and claiming that is humanity in the hands of God, that they are nothing but to be cast away into a fire, his disdain towards the church congregation is displayed. Edwards forces the congregation to feel his dislike towards them by expressing God’s and it makes them aware of how angry God must be and the reality that to him, they are nothing worth looking at and are better off burning. Another example of imagery is God’s bow of wrath already bent with and arrow of justice ready to be shot at their hearts. Here he lets their minds wander by the thought of God shooting an arrow into their heart, having no reason not to shoot it because they are sinners and sinners will see justice when he finds fit. His tone is more cautious and informative but still menacing, he prepares them for the worse just to fling them further down into guilt and
Black Widows bare similarities to the unnecessary evil in our world. Showing excessive violent tendencies, these creatures represent a broader inspection of our society. Through many examples of literary devices in Gordon Grice’s essay “Caught in the Widow’s Web”, black widow spiders are compared to these evil tendencies in our world..
In every aspect of their lives, the goal of the Puritans was to make a society that would be in every way, connected to God. In “Sinner in the Hands of an Angry God” by Jonathan Edwards and “The Minister’s Black Veil” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the two authors convey Puritan beliefs in two very different ways. Edwards projects these ideas by putting fear into his people, while Hawthorne takes a less critical approach to express his Puritan beliefs. While Hawthorne’s style is gloomy and strange, Jonathan Edwards challenges the reader’s understanding of Puritan ideals of religion by using symbolism, imagery, and details to steer his congregation away from sin and toward God.
“Huswifery” shows the reader a new perspective of the thinking of the Puritans and their motivations for being closer to God. Through the conceit regular readers can better understand and see how Taylor feels. The theme, that people are naturally flawed and need to be brought closer to God and His image, remains consistent throughout the poem. Taylor’s work and beliefs inspire and show the reader a different time and culture through a relatable experience that anyone can
I have read material from many different authors and although I enjoyed most of them, I have to say that my two favorites were Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet. Both of these authors are Puritans, and it is easy to tell when reading their pieces. Puritans typically write in simple language, and always refer to God. Edward Taylor created a powerful analogy in his piece, Upon a Spider Catching a Fly. The analogy that he describes is an analogy between people and Satan. The spider represents the devil, who is manipulative and wants to trap people in his web of sin. The wasp represents someone who is strong in their faith and does not let themselves get trapped in
In the novel Lord of the Flies, by William Golding, a group of English boys in their adolescence are stranded on an island. They crash-land while being evacuated because of an atomic war, so the boys must learn to cooperate with each other in order to survive. The boys are civil at first, but the bonds of civilization unfold as the rapacity for power and immediate desires become more important than civility and rescue. The conflict between Ralph, the protagonist, and Jack, the antagonist, represents the conflict between the impulse to civilization and the impulse to savagery, respectively. In Lord of the Flies, Golding uses Ralph and Jack’s struggle for power to show that greed and lust for power can corrupt the best
John Winthrop’s journal replicates the importance of the Puritan’s devout religion, faith in God, and perfectionist mentality. In 1632, John Winthrop tells a story of a mouse and a snake in which the mouse prevails and kills the snake. Interestingly, the pastor of Boston, Mr. Wilson, interprets this story as “the snake was the devil, the mouse was a poor contemptible people which God had brought hither, which should overcome Satan here and dispossess of his kingdom”. Coincidently, this story is very similar to the story of David and Goliath. The reason the Catholics believe that David won the battle is because God was on David’s side. Very similar to the Catholics, the Puritan followers during the Puritan Age were able to spiritually interpret
In Upon a Wasp Chilled with Cold, Edward Taylor uses a ‘wasp’ to illustrate the body of a woman. This wasp endures a “Bear that breathes a Northern blast” (Taylor l. 1), and the ‘Northern blast’ is a representation of the attitude that one possesses without the amicable love of God. The wasp “out extends/Unto the Sun, in great desire/To warm her digits at the fire.” (Taylor ll. 8-10), meaning the wasp wants to be embraced by the grace and salvation of God himself. The wasp eventually receives enough of the warm embrace of the Sun (in this case, the love and salvation of God), and is able to maneuver and fly home in a gleeful manner, all thanks to the glory of God. An argument could be made that the wasp using the Sun to warm itself up is similar in comparison to how human beings want to be under the warm embraces of God as well,
Throughout the poem, a number of literary devices are used. For example: “or press an ear against its hive”. Using this metaphor, Billy Collins is comparing the body of a poem to the hive of a bee. The hive of a bee appears to be something dangerous and unknown, just like a new poem, never before seen, with which one is unfamiliar. Using this metaphor, Billy Collins is
In chapter 4, Golding uses words that are very descriptive but at the same time, he uses words that are restless and scary. For example, "the sun gazed down like an angry eye" (Golding 82). This shows that the sun was angry at them. Golding also uses a peaceful description, but it also has a restless undertone. For example, "snapping sharks; floods of light; odd succession of mirrors" (Golding 81). These words make the peaceful description strange and unpleasing. But overall, I liked the way Golding wrote this chapter because it is quite descriptive and understandable.
Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor are two poets who are puritans. They are able to use writing and language to portray their ideas on G-d and religion. Upon the Burning of Our House, July 10th, 1666 by Bradstreet and Huswifery by Taylor are similar in the sense that G-d is always a part of their poems, whether it’s direct or through the use of complex writing. Through the use of language and metaphors, Bradstreet conveys that a connection with G-d could be strengthened through destruction while Taylor reveals that a connection can be reinforced through creation.
The Caterpillar is a poem which focuses on the previously overlooked actions some of us may partake in, that may not be thought much of, but have short and long lasting effects on a scale we might not be very familiar with. Do we feel remorse for living organisms on a small macroscopic level, or is it just an insignificant part of our complex lives? Is the appreciation of life developed through experiences? Do we feel more pity for a single being that has been through trauma than we do for thousands that have not? In this poem, the conflict between caterpillars and humans is discussed in a such a way that brings up questions about how valuable we perceive other life to be, and how different
In “The Conqueror Worm,” Poe writes a compelling drama mankind’s tragic existence. Through biblical allusions and the metaphor of the worm, there is a prominent theme of death. The reference to a real play is shown as five stanzas in the poem parallel five acts in an average play.
This story again reinforces the severity of defying the supernatural, and the strong belief the puritans held in the actuality of a figurative God and Devil. This story repercussions the idea that there is nowhere to hide from these supernatural powers.